#LIGHTtheWORLD

I survived November! I know you have all been wondering if I did or not, especially since I haven't posted in a long time. It's been busy. Like, game changer busy. And, come the new year, I will tell you all. Until then, I'm keeping things under wraps.

I have been meaning to post more about the #LIGHTtheWORLD campaign and this month has kind of slipped by, but I can't skip today. If you haven't heard about this campaign, it's from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and its to spend the entire month focusing on different attributes of Jesus Christ. Here's a video:

And today's attribute is: Jesus honored the Sabbath, and so can I.

I'll be honest, I haven't always really worried about keeping the Sabbath day holy. Not that I was out doing crazy things, but I didn't really care if I watched TV shows on Sunday, or if I slept after church. There was a time that I was really lazy about even going to church. It was my first time living away from home and no one was expecting me to go, really. So I let things slide a little bit.

But, lately I've been thinking more about the Sabbath day. I spend my Saturday mornings in the Payson, Utah Temple and I have been teaching the six year old class on Sundays. It's been a really wonderful opportunity to think about Jesus Christ and everything He has done for me.

I planned my Christmas lesson for today because next week is Christmas and we will be having a short service at church. So, I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out a fun gift to give the kids in my class. It had to be something I could put together quickly because I've been SUPER busy with research and writing and every idea I found didn't fit. I was getting frustrated and stressed and just wanted to give up.

Then, last night, I was cutting out a billion pairs of jeans for a quilt for my brother for Christmas because he is the hardest person to shop for. Ever. And I remembered at Thanksgiving that he really wanted a jean quilt. So, here we are. The week before Christmas and I'm just starting....haha.....It's been a busy couple of weeks. So busy. Any way, While I was getting frustrated trying to figure out how best to cut up all the jeans, my mom asked if I would want to make a small baby Jesus for each of the kids in my class. She helped me out a bunch in making them and they fit in perfectly with my lesson about the birth of Jesus Christ. It was the best final piece to my lesson today.

I have been frustrated and confused most of this year, but one thing I know for sure is that there is an AMAZING Heavenly Father that cares so much about each of us. He wants us to succeed in life. He loves us. I know this, and I hope that you know this too. With Christmas exactly a week away, I hope you will take the time to seek out our Savior. Seek Him and watch how your life starts to shift. It won't be life altering shifts all at once, but little by little. As we let Him in, He will start to change us. He will help us to become the best versions of ourselves.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!! It's one of my favorite times of the year!!

A new 10

Actually, it's a return to a previous 7 that has become a new 10. Do you remember this post??

 If not, there was a refresher for ya. So, I hadn't watched Chuck or Tangled for a long time, and my sister in law invited me over to watch a Hallmark hall of fame movie last weekend starring Alexis Bledel and Zachary Levi. And as we watched I remembered how much I really love Zachary Levi. 

    So, when I was finally done with finals this week Ale came by to bring me a post finals treat. I asked if she wanted to watch something, she said sure, I asked if we could watch Chuck because I haven't watched it in like a year or so and she said she'd try an episode. 

     One thing you have to understand is that Ale and I don't actually like a lot of the same TV Shows. There are a few we both like, but none that we both love. Until now. I got her hooked on Chuck (and who wouldn't be, really?) and Zachary Levi plays Chuck. And I love him. Just a little bit. He's my new 10. Except, he was already close to a 10, but now he's my 10. And do you know why? #1: He's attractive. #2: He's my favorite Disney prince *smolder*.

 and #3: He's a nerd. Not just on the show, but in real life. Zachary Levi is a nerd. YAY!! This is awesome because I have recently realized that I am in fact a nerd. Which takes him from the 7 I ranked him at last year, up to being my 10. That's right, move over Sam Worthington, Christian Bale, David Tennant, Josh Dallas, Adam Levine, Matt Smith, and all the other 10s. 

 Speaking of attractive guys, Ale convinced me to sign up for online dating. Let's talk more about awkward than attractive. Too bad there aren't any Zachary Levi-esq guys on there (at least not that I have seen). I have talked to a few guys, but nothing that is incredibly striking and awesome. I figure there is no harm in trying new things though, right? Liam has decided that he needs to meet any guys that want to meet me. I love how much my friends care about me. It's really awesome.  I don't know if anything will come of it, but hopefully it'll be fun.
   
     So, this semester is over. Thank goodness for that. This was a rough one and I'm glad it's over. Time to have a fantastic summer. I am going to be moving soon. A good friend of mine wants me to be room mates with her, which I think will be a good thing. I told Ale she's going to have to come hang out with me like all the time. And I'll be working on LIGHTS and Changing Tyde and I'll also be quilting and baking and loving my life!!!!

And then they all died. It was sad. I ugly cried. It was horrible.

     I feel like all of my favorite shows are killing off main characters. I hate it when they do this. Downton Abbey being at the top of the list. SERIOUSLY GUYS, what's wrong with you writers?!?!?!!?  Stop the hate! Stop the killing!! Just let my characters live and give them drama some other way!!!!!! At least Sherlock isn't *actually* dead. But seriously. Stop the dying-ness peoples! Maybe I'll just become a screenwriter so that I have a say in who lives and who dies!!
I told myself I HAD to work on homework today...right now, in fact....so, of course I'm writing on my blog instead. Obviously. I've been thinking a lot about life lately. What I want, where I'm going, what I want out of it, you know, the usual questions. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but every year around my birthday I write a letter to my future husband. Sounds odd, I'm sure, but it's kind of a marker for me to check back and see where I've come from and what I hope for in the future. Any way, I started this year's letter back in January and didn't finish it. I picked it back up this last weekend and finished it without reading the beginning, then I went back and read the whole thing. I surprised myself quite a bit. The first part of my letter was really sad. Like really sad. I think I was freaking out about being 28 and not married (and if anyone reading this isn't LDS, or from Utah, you probably don't see that as a bad thing) and I kind of wrote it out in a letter. But then, this last weekend (and the last few weeks) I have just been really positive and LOVING life and looking forward to some huge new changes ahead for me. And so I wrote those out in my letter too and it was really surprising to me that I have been really down lately. I hadn't really noticed.
     Any way, yeah, life-it's getting better. I have been working on LIGHTS a lot lately and I am so in love with Ian and Emma and their relationship. I'm going to take them to the very edge, though. I'm going to make them question everything and they're going to have to rely on each other and hope that somehow they don't die and make it out together. I think that this is the best way for me to solidify how much they care about each other. Also, it adds the drama needed to promote a story. Because what is a story without an issue or drama? A boring sugar coated story that is hard to relate to, because we all have problems. We do, it's just the way things work. So, don't hate me when you think Ian is dead or Emma has forgotten about him. It'll be okay, I promise. Trust me, I'm the writer :)
     In other news, I have been baking up a storm lately and I have to say that I am so proud of myself when I finish a project whether its baking or sewing or writing. I love creating things, and I love accomplishing them too! It's awesome!! I'll post pictures soon. Because they're fantastic!!!
     Um....I think that is about it. Life is GREAT!!! I love writing and baking and everything about my life right now. I'm working on some things that I'll blog about later, but for now, I'm doing good and hope you are too!!!

I quit.

I quit my second job. Hallelujah! Its is a HUGE blessing to be back down to one job!
So, summer is here, and I have been working on some really awesome projects. I am quilting two quilts that I have been putting together for a while. I will post pictures on those soon.
This is really random, but yesterday my friends and I went to dinner and I ran into Turbo. Yeah, TURBO. It was crazy. I haven't seen him in months. He gave me a hug, which I wasn't expecting. I think I might invite him to come do something with us soon. I didn't realize that I missed talking to him until I was talking to him again. I think he was surprised at how much my life has changed since we last talked. I don't think anyone ever thought I would actually leave me second job. I was starting to wonder for a while, but I did it! And it feels GLORIOUS!
     There is a lot more to be said, but I haven't the time to write it right now, so I will bid you adieu until I have time again!

Happy Birthday To ME!!!!!

First of all, I have amazing family and friends! It was my birthday a few days ago and the whole weekend was spent with tons of friends and tons of family all celebrating with me!!! It was fantastic! I got to make two cakes (and before you freak out, I LOVE baking and really really enjoyed making both of my cakes!) The first one was CHUCK related because I LOVE LOVE LOVE that show, and Zachary Levi (because he's AWESOME).
     In the show Chuck works at a store that is pretty much Best Buy, only its called Buy More and instead of the Best Buy Geek Squad, they have the Buy More Nerd Herd that Zachary Levi's character (Chuck) is the head of. This is the logo for the Nerd Herd. I thought it would be a fantastic idea, and it turned out really quite well! I love it! My friends were all impressed and it was so much fun to hang out with them! Tex and his wife came down and it was great to see them!

     The second cake came from a recent obsession (at least when I'm not doing school work). I started playing Lego Pirates of the Caribbean on the Wii. I HAD to get a mermaid and beat 2 entire games to do it. And once I got her....I didn't have time to play anymore. It was sad. BUT, I made a cake (and no, there isn't a mermaid on the cake....the only one was in the $70 set and I just couldn't justify that kind of money for a cake...) BUT, I did make a pretty awesome cake, if you ask me. Complete with Capt. Jack, Elizabeth, Barbossa, and some other random bad guys. I took pictures of it both lit and not lit so you can see all the details and awesomeness of it! YAY!!!
    So yeah, I had this amazing birthday and my friends took me to dinner on my actual birthday and it was just a fantastic day. AND, as if it couldn't get any better, THE FRAY put out a new CD that I was able to download from itunes the evening of my birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!! It is a fantastic CD, but I love love love the Fray, so that's not really a surprise. But yeah, super awesome day, super awesome week, and now I have to go back to reading my 800-1000 pages for this week! YAY! (PS: that's why I haven 't posted in a while...I've been reading crazy amounts for my classes this semester!)

Share the Love

So...ever since the middle of May I knew that I wanted to link up with my ultra crafty friend Becky's blog. Every first Friday she has a link up party and I keep forgetting...but in the past month I have made two items I am SUPER proud of and wanted to share them both with you. So, without further ado, here we go!





     First of all, about 8 years ago I embarked on what I thought would be a quick little adventure in quilting. I should have realized when a pattern calls for 200 2 inch x 2 inch squares, the only little thing about it is the size! However, give me 8 years and losing the quilt top about 3 times and voila! here it is!
    This was originally going to be given to one of my siblings when it was done (and I honestly don't remember which one...it was going to be a surprise) but once I started it I knew that there was no way I was going to give it away! Then, as I was about half way done with the top I realized that with all the work that was going in to this quilt, no child would ever touch it either! Ha ha...I guess we'll see when I finish quilting it. The top is completely done and now I just need to add the batting and the back and then tie it or quilt it (haven't decided which yet) and then bind it and I'm done! It will be finished before I actually have a kid, which I wasn't sure would happen! HOORAY!!!


     Ok, on to the second project....I just blogged about this one, so forgive me for repeating, but I am really quite proud of it. Its Digger's birthday cake. I mean that cake was AMAZING. It was a three layer white cake with a strawberry/pastry cream/whipped cream filling, alternating between layers, and then topped with chocolate covered strawberries and a chocolate Happy Birthday Digger!! sign. MASTERPIECE. I am so very proud of that cake!
     The cake itself was probably about 10 inches around. I baked two 9inch cakes and then made them into 3 layers. The frosting is a whipped cream frosting instead of a butter cream type. And surrounding the entire cake is those chocolate pirouette cookies, alternating between milk chocolate and white chocolate. Is your mouth watering yet? I was told by a good friend of mine (who doesn't generally like cake) that when she saw a picture of this cake she wanted some. Apparently I can make non desert lovers want desert....I think that's a little bit awesome. After seeing this cake, many of my friends from church kept telling me how I should open a bakery and how I would be a fantastic baker...which is a dream that I have one day in the future. We'll see what happens. It was funny, even Digger commented about his cake, he said something to the effect of, "Soozee, do you realize how much you could sell that cake for? Oh my gosh, its amazing!" yes Digger, yes it is. And, just an FYI, if I was ever commissioned to make this cake for someone I would charge about $75.